The present invention generally relates to a method and composition for enhancing milk component production in ruminants. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and composition for enhancing the solids content of milk produced by ruminants.
Milk producers are interested in selectively increasing the solids content of milk produced by ruminants to incrementally add value to ruminant-produced milk. Manufacturers of dairy products value milk having a higher solids content because such milk increases the yield of products made from the milk and components of the milk. Indeed, both in the United States and in many foreign countries, milk producers are paid for the milk on a graded scale based upon the amount of fat, protein, or other measures of solids that are contained in the milk.
It is well known that the composition of milk for lactating dairy cows can be changed by judicious feeding of different feeds or feed additives. For example, nutritionists have known for years that promoting a low acetate:propionate ratio in the volatile fatty acids processed in the rumen of dairy cows causes a significant decrease in the percentage of milk fat as well as a minor increase in the percentage of milk protein. This scheme, however, can cause health problems in dairy cows that consume such a ration over extended periods of time, including ruminal keratosis, displacement of the abomasum, and laminitis. Another effort focused on increasing milk component concentration, specifically milk protein concentration, in ruminant-produced milk and relied upon the feeding of rumen inert amino acids, especially methionine and lysine.
While these additional ruminant feeding techniques have enhanced the overall knowledge base with respect to ruminant feeding, these techniques have not adequately addressed the problem of how to most economically, efficiently, and effectively increase the concentration of milk components in ruminant-produced milk. Therefore, a need still exists for an improved method and composition for feeding a ruminant that enhances the concentration of milk components in the ruminant-produced milk.